“There are many reasons for the United States to fight to keep this alliance,” The Blade said in an editorial, entitled: Hang On To This Ally. “One is our historic ties to Pakistan. Another is that our nation does not have an overabundance of allies in the world, and this is even more true in Pakistan’s part of the world,” the newspaper added.

The Blade also pointed out that Pakistan permits the shipment, across Pakistan to Afghanistan, of almost all the materiel U.S. forces use in Afghanistan, and called it “a substantial form of assistance.”

“A close U.S. relationship with Pakistan is longstanding, including the facilitating role Pakistan played when President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger opened the door to U.S.-China relations,”The Blade said, while noting that Trump’s government was seeking to switch America’s close alliance in South Asia from Pakistan to its rival, India.

“In the meantime, U.S. relations with Pakistan are rocky and getting worse,” the newspaper said. While acknowledging that the United States can cut aid off entirely, The Blade said, “But the U.S. should do so only after a careful, comprehensive consideration of all the elements of the relationship.”